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JSON VS JsonAPI

Compare JSON VS JsonAPI and see what are their differences

JSON logo JSON

(JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format

JsonAPI logo JsonAPI

Application and Data, Languages & Frameworks, and Query Languages
  • JSON Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-28
  • JsonAPI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-11-21

JSON features and specs

  • Simplicity
    JSON is easy to read and write due to its straightforward syntax, making it a convenient data format for both humans and machines.
  • Language Independence
    JSON is supported by many programming languages, making it a versatile choice for data interchange across different environments.
  • Lightweight
    JSON's compact format allows for efficient data transfer, which is particularly beneficial in web applications where bandwidth is a concern.
  • Integration
    JSON easily integrates with modern web technologies and APIs, making it a preferred choice for RESTful services and web applications.
  • Data Structure
    JSON supports complex data structures, including objects and arrays, providing flexibility in representing various data forms.

Possible disadvantages of JSON

  • Limited Data Types
    JSON supports a limited set of data types, which may require additional handling when working with more complex data structures found in other formats.
  • No Comments
    JSON lacks a native mechanism for including comments within the data, which can be a limitation for documentation and readability purposes.
  • Security Concerns
    Parsing JSON can introduce security vulnerabilities if not properly handled, such as malicious data execution through insecure deserialization.
  • Verbosity
    Although lightweight, JSON can become verbose for highly nested structures, which can impact readability and processing performance.
  • Error Handling
    JSON's lack of detailed error handling mechanisms can make debugging more difficult when dealing with malformed data or parsing errors.

JsonAPI features and specs

  • Standardization
    JSON:API provides a standardized format for building APIs, which promotes consistency and interoperability between different APIs.
  • Efficiency
    It supports features like sparse fieldsets, compound documents, and included relationships which help in reducing the amount of data transferred and improving response times.
  • Decoupling
    JSON:API encourages a clear separation between client and server, allowing them to evolve independently as long as they adhere to the specification.
  • Error Handling
    It has a well-defined error format that makes it easier for clients to understand what went wrong and how to fix it.
  • Community and Tooling
    A growing community and increasing tooling support make it easier to implement JSON:API in various server-side and client-side technologies.

Possible disadvantages of JsonAPI

  • Complexity
    The specification can be complex and may introduce a learning curve for developers who are new to it or used to simpler REST approaches.
  • Overhead
    Strict adherence to the JSON:API specification can sometimes introduce additional overhead in terms of implementation effort, especially for small projects.
  • Flexibility
    While the standardization is beneficial, it can reduce flexibility in scenarios where a more customized or optimized solution is needed.
  • Adoption
    Although growing, JSON:API is not as widely adopted as other conventions like simple REST, and thus some developers and projects might resist switching to it.
  • Resource Intensive
    Some features of JSON:API, like relationship links and included resources, can become resource-intensive for the server if not implemented carefully.

Analysis of JSON

Overall verdict

  • Yes, JSON is generally considered a good choice for data interchange, especially in web applications, due to its simplicity, wide support across programming languages, and ease of use.

Why this product is good

  • JSON is a lightweight data interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write and easy for machines to parse and generate. Due to its simplicity and flexibility, it has become a widely adopted standard for data exchange on the web.

Recommended for

  • Web APIs and services
  • Applications needing a lightweight data format
  • Communication between server and client
  • Configuration files
  • Data interchange between diverse systems

JSON videos

Parsing JSON Review - Part 1

More videos:

  • Review - Parsing JSON Review - Part 2
  • Review - JSon Foreign Vol.1 Review

JsonAPI videos

No JsonAPI videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to JSON and JsonAPI)
Developer Tools
65 65%
35% 35
Development
34 34%
66% 66
Databases
100 100%
0% 0
API Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, JsonAPI should be more popular than JSON. It has been mentiond 51 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

JSON mentions (13)

  • The Last Breaking Change | JSON Schema Blog
    The YAML 0.1 spec was sent to a public user group in May 2001. JSON was named in a State Software internal discussion. State Software was founded in March 2001. json.org was launched in 2002. Therefore youโ€™re just wrong: YAML came out before JSON. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Why does wine give warnings about using 64bit prefixes, or has 32bit packages? Hasn't the world moved on from 32 bit a century ago?
    How come that doesn't apply to other libraries? For example, when I write Java or Node.js programs, I don't need to make sure packages like json.org or express.js have a 32bit or 64bit environment. What makes windows libs different than NPM libs? Source: about 3 years ago
  • โ€œIgnore the f'ing haters โ€ And other lessons learned from creating a popular
    The first two sentences of the text on http://json.org are "JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format. It is easy for humans to read and write." It's a primary goal of JSON, it's fair to question whether it's successful at it. Personally, I'd much rather write TOML or S expressions. I don't like YAML at all, the whitespace sensitivity drives me nuts. - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • Recording your JSON data to MCAP, a file format that support multiple serialization formats
    To help you make the transition, weโ€™ve written a tutorial on how to write an MCAP writer in Python to record JSON data to an MCAP file. Source: about 3 years ago
  • replace \" with "
    What you need to probably do is to step back and learn the format for JSON, and the core data structures that you will find in most languages:. Source: about 3 years ago
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JsonAPI mentions (51)

  • Show HN: Aura โ€“ Like robots.txt, but for AI actions
    Why reinvent the wheel poorly when you have a hundred of solutions like https://jsonapi.org/? - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Build Real-Time Knowledge Graph for Documents with LLM
    For context, the subject-predicate-object pattern is known as a semantic triple or Resource Description Framework (RDF) triple: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_triple They're useful for storing social network graph data, for example, and can be expressed using standards like Open Graph and JSONAPI: https://ogp.me https://jsonapi.org I've stored RDF triples in database tables and experimented with query... - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • OSF API: The Complete Guide
    Built on JSON API standards, the OSF API is intuitive for anyone familiar with REST conventions. Once you learn its core patterns, you can quickly expand into project creation, user collaboration, and moreโ€”without constantly referencing documentation. The official OSF API docs provide everything needed to get started. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Common Mistakes in RESTful API Design
    Following established patterns reduces the learning curve for your API. Adopt conventions from JSON:API or Microsoft API Guidelines to provide consistent experiences. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Starting the Console front-end for Rainbow Platform
    Iโ€™ve used both GraphQL and REST in the past. From json:api to Relay, each approach for building APIs has its pros and cons. However, a constant challenge is choosing between code-first and schema-first approaches. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing JSON and JsonAPI, you can also consider the following products

Microsoft Office Access - Access is now much more than a way to create desktop databases. Itโ€™s an easy-to-use tool for quickly creating browser-based database applications.

OData - OData, short for Open Data Protocol, is an open protocol to allow the creation and consumption of queryable and interoperable RESTful APIs in a simple and standard way.

LibreOffice - Base - Base, database, database frontend, LibreOffice, ODF, Open Standards, SQL, ODBC

graphql.js - A reference implementation of GraphQL for JavaScript - graphql/graphql-js

JSOLint - Format, verify, and lint JSON effortlessly with our powerful Validator Tool. Generate pretty JSON and validate online for free. Simplify your JSON tasks

JSON Server - Get a full fake REST API with zero coding in less than 30 seconds. For front-end developers who need a quick back-end for prototyping and mocking